


Skills

by LivinLaVidaLisa



Series: Stories of Thedas II (Dragon Age Writing Prompts) [22]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-22
Updated: 2021-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-24 23:41:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30080139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LivinLaVidaLisa/pseuds/LivinLaVidaLisa
Summary: 22. SkillsTheron teaches young Sera a valuable lesson that she won't soon forget.ORTheron "teaches" young Sera how to shoot a bow, and incidentally he is also why she hates elfy elves.
Relationships: Sera & Male Mahariel
Series: Stories of Thedas II (Dragon Age Writing Prompts) [22]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2172069
Kudos: 5





	Skills

Theron and his party had been in the alienage for a few hours searching for anything incriminating on Loghain.

Theron, Alistair, Zevran, and Leliana slowly enter Denerim's Alienage. None of them missed the hidden eyes upon them as the continued into the city elves territory. "Err... we're not going to be mobbed, right? That's not something elves do here? Mob people?" Alistair asked and looked around at all angles. 

Zevran chuckled, "it is quite likely, my friend. Theron and I are not from here and most elves bare humans no love. Unexpected trouble should be expected." Zevran subtly pointed across to an ally way, "there are few of them watching us now, probably trying to pick out the weakest target."

"Right, creepy," Alistair muttered under his breath. 

Theron paused his walking and turned around to give his fellow Warden a look. "What, are you afraid of a little pickpocket, Alistair?" He teased.

"Its not the pickpocket that scares me," Alistair said a little too defensively. "It's being robbed blind without knowing it that bothers me." 

"Sure, whatever you say." Theron chuckled and patted Alistair on the back and Alistair frowned at him.

"You're not at all worried your coin might get stolen right from under your nose?" Leliana asked with a knowing glint in her eye.

The elf huffed, "not likely!" Theron planted his hands on his hips and looked directly at Leliana, "I'm a Dalish hunter in case you've forgotten. There's no way some flat ear could get the best of me." 

In the corner of Theron's eye he noticed something in the shadows move. He turned his head to inspect it but at the same moment a small figure came dashing towards him from the opposite direction. Small hands reached into his pocket and grasped onto his coin purse, Theron went to grab them but then from the shadows came a series of small pebbles being shot at the group. Voices of children came screaming at them.

"Ha! I got one right in the eye!" A boy hollered at his friends after pelting Alistair in the face with his stone. 

Alistair growled, "hey! That hurt you little-" another wave of tiny stones came hurling towards them.

The child behind Theron pulled away from him. "Oi! Time to spilt!" The child ordered to the others in the shadows. 

Quickly the pebbles ceased leaving the group confused. Theron turned on his heal and watched a little blond elven girl running off with his coin purse. He grunted and pulled his bow and arrow from his back and took aim.

"Wait," Leliana shouted, "don't hurt her! She's just a child!"

"I'm not," Theron said annoyed. The girl had came to a wooden fence and began climbing with impressive speed for a child. Theron released his arrow and pinned the girl's shirt to the fence, trapping her. She screamed from the surprise and tried to yank the arrow out, her feet dangled and kicked in the air as she attempted to escape, but a child's mischievous mind can only get them so far.

"Hey, you prig!" The girl glared at Theron, "you could've put a hole right through me!"

"Be glad I didn't," Theron marched up to the girl and retrieved his coin purse from her hands. "You're lucky I'm a nice guy, if that was anyone else you wouldn't have made it out unharmed, da'len."

"Something tells me that if it was anyone else she would've gotten away," Alistair groaned and rubbed the sore spot near his eye. 

"Doll who?!" The girl asked, still glaring daggers at Theron. "you makin fun of me?!"

"No da'len just means," Theron paused a moment, trying to remember the common translation, "Eh... it basically means 'annoying child who is in big trouble' which you are, _da'len_. Where are you parents? And the rest of your little gang, too, while we're at it."

"I ain't tellin you nothin!" The girl squirmed and tried to kick Theron, but Theron was able to dodge all of her efforts.

"Warden, if I may interject?" Zevran came up next to Theron and placed his hand on his shoulder, "this and the other children are more than likely urchins, orphaned one way or the other and joined together for survival. I doubt there will be anyone in the alienage who would go through the trouble to discipline them. Especially since they only bothered a group of outsiders sticking their noses into their business, no?"

Theron watched the child try to wrestle and wiggle her way out. Her clothes were already tattered and filthy, dirt covered her from head to toe and she was small and thin, even more so for a healthy elven child. It even looked like she had cut her own hair. Theron felt a well of sympathy tug at his heart, and then a sudden rush of guilt for stopping her. Even if she was stealing his coin that he needed to help in the efforts to stop not only the Blight but the civil war that choked Ferelden in constant battle and violence. "No, you're right." Theron sighed as he dragged a hand down his face, "and I imagine the city guard would be too harsh on her, even considering the petty crime."

"What? Why?" The girl finally stopped her tugging and kicking to watch them all curiously, "all I did was try to take some coin! An it's not like I got away-"

"Because you're an elf, da'len." Theron interrupted.

"But... I'm little..." 

"They won't care," he said sympathetically. "I'll tell you what," Theron took a step forward and looked the girl in the eye, "I'll let you go, _and_ give you a gift, if you just tell me one thing. Deal?"

The girl knitted her brow, and considered his offer for a moment, "depends on what you wanna know..." she asked cautiously. 

Theron smirked at her, "what's your name?"

She looked at him incredulously and frowned, "thas it?"

"That's it."

She squinted her eyes, trying to pinpoint a lie between his words. "It's Sera," she said in a small voice.

"Sarah?" Theron gave her a cheeky smile.

"No, it's _Sera!"_ She corrected, kicking her feet against the wooden fence. 

"That's what I said, isn't it?" He then jerked the arrow out of the fence and out of her shirt, Sera hit the ground with a thud and landed on her rear.

"Ouch! That hurt you-" Sera scrambled to her feet and rubbed her backside with both of her hands.

"I thought you were quicker than that," Theron laughed and Sera bared her teeth at him like a rabid mabari, "easy now. I still have my gift to give you don't I?" Sera closed her mouth but still frowned furiously at him and he chuckled at her. He then turned to Leliana and beckoned her over, taking both of their coin purses Theron dumped all his coin into Leliana's purse, save for five sovereigns. He turned around and showed Sera and jingled the coin around to show her it was still in there and that he wasn't tricking her. She reached it but Theron held his hand out to stop her. "Hang on, this isn't all. I'm also giving you a bow and a single arrow. You'll have to be careful about not breaking it or losing it." Hel pulled an old bow from his sack and then tied the coin purse to the same arrow he had shot at her. Her eyes lit up and opened her mouth in a giant 'O' shape, Theron could feel the delight rolling off of her. Then her lips curled up in a mischievous grin, no doubt thinking of all the trouble she could cause with a real weapon. _Creators, this one's trouble,_ he thought to himself before pulling the arrow taught on the bow and aiming it at the roof to a near by house. "Of course, you'll have to get it first."

"Wha?" Sera asked and Theron set the arrow flying, it landed on the side of the house smack dab in the middle of the arch near the roof. The coin purse dangled off the arrow much like Sera had moments before. "Why'd you go and do that for?! How am I gonna get it from there? You said all I had to do was tell you my name!" She stomped her foot down in anger.

"I lied," It was Theron's turn to smile mischievously at her, "you'll have to figure out a way, da'len. If you can get up there and retrieve it it's all yours." He stretched out the bow to her and Sera tried to snatch it from him, but Theron didn't release it immediately. She looked into his eyes with another questioning glare, "You don't have the luxury as many others do, nothing will be handed to you on a silver platter. You'll have to work harder than anyone else in this world, but in you I can sense the proud blood of the people running through your veins and I expect great things from you, da'len." He released the bow and Sera clutched it to her chest, "may the Creator's guide you, and the Dread Wolf never catch your scent."

Sera stuck her tongue out at Theron and dashed over to the house where her prize sat out of her reach. Theron smiled fondly at Sera who was trying, and failing, to climb up the side of the house, "she won't be thanking me fore that any time soon." He turned away and waved everyone to follow him, "come on, we still have a lot of ground to cover."

"Don't you think you could have been a bit kinder to her?" Leliana pouted, worry sketched all over her face.

"Oh, come on. You know the old saying," the elf paused to try and remember his hahren's lessons. "Hunt for the clan, feed them for a day. Teach the young to hunt and feed the clan for another generation... Or something like that anyway."

"But you didn't actually teach her anything," Alistair pointed out, "you just shot an arrow, gave her a bow and told her good luck."

"That's more than what anyone else has done for her isn't it?" Theron shrugged. "She _did_ try to steal from me and we don't have time to guide her through everything. We have an upstart to kick off the throne and a Blight to stop, remember? And I meant what I said, it may be a hard lesson, but it's one she must learn now." He continued walking further into the alienage, "besides, that'll keep her out of trouble for a while."

"Until she gets bored and gives up, that is," Zevran chuckled.

* * *

When they finally emerged from the warehouse were the slavers had kept the kidnapped elves the sun had started to set and Theron let out an exhausted sigh. He bid his farewells to Shianni and her family, and thanked her for her help. 

As they marched out of the alienage they walked by the house they had met the young girl, Sera, looking up at the house Theron saw that the arrow and coin were now missing. He smirked to himself but said nothing to his companions. Instead, he lifted his head taller despite his tiredness, and strolled out of the alienage proudly, whistling the tune of an old Dalish song. 

**Author's Note:**

> Theron is the reason Sera is like THAT 100% but he thinks he did good 😂
> 
> the lesson Sera actually learned was that elfy elves were self righteous preachy a-holes and the closer to the dalish they were the less she could stand them. people are people and if they need help you should help them! don't make them jump through stupid hoops just for a little pick me up!


End file.
